"Yeah," Ladybug agreed through a sigh, "we should talk about this. Are you… Can you come back to my place so we can talk about this a little bit more privately." He nodded and stood up. He reached a hand back to her and when she accepted his hand, he helped her stand up. She leaned up, planning to kiss her boyfriend, but he backed away quickly.

His face lit up in a blush when he backed away. "Sorry," he apologized. "I know you're my girlfriend, but it's still a little weird to have the person I just got over try to kiss me." He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. "Let's get going?" She led him back to her balcony and opened her trapdoor for them.

She landed on her bed, and he did the same a few seconds after she did. She transformed back into Marinette and he couldn't help the awed expression that was on his face as he watched the girl he'd been in love with for years transform into the girl he'd been dating for months. He saw a piece she had been hand stitching the seam of sitting near her bed and picked it up.

When she was a civilian, she pulled out her hair ties and started running her fingers through her hair to flatten it. "So, it seams that we have a lot to talk about. Is- I… Are-" She took a deep breath, trying to slow the pounding of her heart. "Do you still want to date me even though I've been lying to you for our entire relationship."

"Of course. I love you," he whispered through his awe. "Purrincess, my lady, my Marinette. You're both of the best people I know, you're so strong, and you've been doing a lot. I'm worried about you overworking yourself and I hope this means you'll let me help you more. Between your internship and Monarch, I don't know how you've been staying sane, but I love you sew much."

"I've been hanging on by a thread," she admitted. "But I've had a nice stray cat showing up to keep me feeling better when it feels like everything around me is crumbling." Marinette curled her knees into her chest and Chat moved a little closer to her, placing his arms around his girlfriend to hold and comfort her.

"I always want to be there for you when you needle me, my love," he whispered before he placed a gentle kiss on her temple. He placed the notebook with her notes on Monarch to the side so that he could hold her a little bit tighter. "I'm just sorry I've been adding more to your shoulders by trying to suppurrt you. I'm sorry that I made you do the internship when you're already overwhelmed."

"You don't have to apologize," she assured. "I'm glad that I signed up and I'm so proud of myself for getting accepted. You told me that I didn't have to apply if I really didn't want to, but I did. I've appreciated the support you've given me, minou." She looked toward her boyfriend and gave him a gentle kiss. He couldn't help the smile that spread on his lips.

"You said you messed up something with a commission," he added after a few minutes of thinking. "And that you were doubting yourself because of it. Did that really happen or were you just worried that you weren't going to have time because of your responsibilities as Ladybug?" He brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear and she looked down.

"Neither," she admitted, embarrassed. She took a deep breath. "I just… wooldn't be able to bear it if I messed up at the internship after I had already messed up so much with Monarch getting the Miraculouses." Her eyes started to brim with tears. "I can't disappoint everyone more than I already have."

"Oh, my love," he whispered, "you haven't disappinted anyone. You're doing great and you're working so hard to come up with solutions. You impress me every day and I'm sorry I didn't make it clear to Marinette or Ladybug that you could come to me with any issues that you've been dealing with. I don't want you to feel alone when I can be there for you."

She nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry that it took Ladybug such a long time to fall in love with her pawtner," she added. "You've always been there for me, but I was too distracted by Adrien when we were younger and I never gave you the chance you deserved sooner."

The fact that Adrien was Ladybug's 'other boy' hadn't registered for Chat until she made that comment and he couldn't help the flutter in his chest at the fact that she had managed to fall for him twice, just like he had managed to fall for her. Like they'd talked about, falling in love once immediately, then a second time again, slowly.

"I plan to be here fur you for as long as I can, princess." He looked at the notebook. "Now, tell me about why your boss is number one on your suspicions list for being Monarch." He began playing with her hair, twirling bits around his clawed fingers as the two of them sat on her bed. She nodded and took the notebook from him.

"I know that we ruled him out because of the fact that he became the collector, but we don't know for satin that he can't akumatize himself and honestly, I don't know why he wouldn't be able to. Plus, Maïtre Fu told me that the person who had the Grimoire was a valid candidate to become Hawk Moth when we were younger."

"The main reason I'm coming back to the idea is because some things aren't adding up for this internship. I'll try to schedule a meeting with him for my supervisor and apparently, he has long chunks of time sectioned off, based on the results I've gotten from Nathalie. It feels like 75% of the time, when he's in a meeting, there has been an akuma attack."

"There were five interns at the start of the summer and now there are only two of us left. The other three were all akumatized when they were fired. I know that it would be brutal to be fired, but what are the chances that Monarch would be so ready to take advantage of their emotions that quickly."

"I also think that they're purposefully overworking me there because I know that he tried to akumatize me in the past and he might be targeting me. I think that he might think that if I become an akuma, I'll be able to help take down Ladybug and Chat Noir, but that won't happen. I think it's one of the intermediary steps to defeat us."

Chat didn't say anything. Everything that she was saying made sense to him and it made him feel sick to think that his father was the person they'd been fighting for years. "I mean, obviously, there are probably other possibilities, I just noticed things about M. Agreste that made me circle back to the idea." She blushed lightly.

"We can look into him as a possibility," he assured, hoping she'd be able to hear him over the sound of his heart pounding in his chest. "Together, this time. I purromise."